Notre Dame, A Symbol of Our Own Resiliency, Renewal and Resurrection

The fact that Notre Dame is still standing is said to have been a miracle.  The mere reality that you and I are still here having survived so far the 8th deadliest global pandemic is also a miracle!

Sunday, I spent a good part of my afternoon doing what I love to do on a sunny Sunday; taking in the bird and flower market and walking around Notre Dame and the islands of the Seine.

Notre Dame, bathed in the spring sunshine took on a golden-tinged hue resplendent in all her glory minus her steeple.

 

Below is the oldest bistro in Paris, the cabaret/tavern, Le Caveau de La Colombe, still standing from the 1200’s that certainly welcomed workers constructing Notre Dame.

A closed restaurant front framed with wisteria ready to bloom looked lonely and withered.

 

 

 

 

 

If it weren’t for the scaffolding and missing steeple, you could have hardly guessed what happed two years ago.

This greatly beloved cathedral is on the mend and so are we.  In 2020, we were ravaged by the deadly fire of Covid, and yes the steeple of our life as we knew it has toppled too.

After the tragic fire, heavy clouds of doubt hung over  Notre Dame that she could even survive and would crumble down at any moment.

People all over the world have suffered unimaginable losses of loved ones, income, businesses, and multiple disruptions of life as we knew it pre Covid.

As I walked past her boarded-up sides blanketed with scaffolding, I am reminded that we human mortals made only of flesh and bones, not stones and mortar, are certainly more fragile than Notre Dame.

We too are still being propped with protective confinements, curfews, and masks to keep us from falling ill till all can be vaccinated.

For Christians, the  Easter season celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Jewish Passover commemorates the freedom from the slavery of the Jewish people.

How ironically the restoration of Notre Dame resonates with our own resiliency, and hope for resurrection and freedom from the oppression of Covid.

The two-year anniversary of the fire is coming up on April 15, 2021.

Each day dozens of talented specialized workers are restoring the cathedral stone by stone and reweaving the intricate wooden beams that burned.

In front of Hôpital Dieu and further down on Rue Cloître Notre Dame are panels of photographs of the restoration process going on.

The main entrance to the hospital was blocked like a fortress with only a small guarded hallway to enter, looking empty and eerie.

The old stones of Notre Dame have been through almost 1000 years of life’s challenges and threats; multiple wars, the black plague, smallpox pandemic, Spanish flu, and etc.

Miraculously, the vast old organ remained intact and will surely blast those engulfing deep chords again welcoming the faithful to Masses.

Notre Dame stands not only by the incredible workmanship with which she was built but by the faith, love and devotion of millions who have sought refuge, solace, and comfort within her ancient walls.

Some of those old stones that made up the beautiful gothic vaulted ceiling, fell blacken and burnished when the part of the cathedral’s ceiling collapsed.

 

Each one has been sorted out, examed, measured, and evaluated.   It is a monumental task for the stonecutters to cut exact replicas that the masons will then reassemble, much like putting back puzzle pieces snug against each other.

As you might imagine, stone cutters are not the most sought out careers these days, nor easy to find, especially the artisanal ones trained for restoring historical monuments.

I would venture to say few are trained outside France and the rest of Europe.   During Medieval times, they along with masons were numerous and totally essential in construction.

The same holds true for stained glass restorers.  Three years ago I wrote about visiting a high school in Paris that actively trained students in these fine ancient arts.

I found tremendous enthusiasm in these young students to progress in their chosen fields, which will lead them to become highly skilled artists.

They will become licensed in their respective fields through apprenticeships with the Compagnons de Devoir, a guild much like the ones during Medieval times.

It is these extremely skilled craftsmen, Les Compagnons, in charge of restoring the cathedral to all her original splendor.

Walking on Rue Cloître Notre Dame, which runs along the Northern side of the cathedral was devoid of its many café terraces, all closed.  A lone crepe maker stood out with only a few takers.

On Pont St. Louis I love to while away time watching the street performers and onlookers passing by.  This “statue” artist is often here, but many regular performers weren’t, making for some paltry entertainment.

Painted entirely in white, he would occasionally tip his hat for a dropped coin, but otherwise quickly resume his stiff posture, like we have had to do during this whole awful pandemic when our own lives suddenly came to a standstill we had never know before.

At times some of us must have felt like willing or unwilling puppets of governmental dictates.

These little feuding foxes mimicked the rebellious nature of some of us pushing limits, as I witnessed again some crowding along the quais of the Seine.

I imagine these lone lovers spotted on Quai Bourbon on the north side of Ile Saint Louis, were enjoying their rare solitude from peering eyes, except mine.

The Berthillon ice cream stand was doing a brisk business as usual in front of café Le Flore en L’Ile.  Its terrace looked empty of the normally crowded conviviality spilling out onto the street.

Not quite sure what statement these rotting sack of potatoes left in front of a restaurant perhaps as contemporary art wanted to convey.

For me though, these black gutted potatoes surely destined to have been delicious Pommes Frites, mirror our past year of lost opportunities, shriveling up on the back burner of our lives!

Well, like Notre Dame slowly coming together stone by stone, we too I hope will be able to freely and without many restrictions start to knit back our lives.

The cathedral will be rebuilt with brand new stones and wood from huge age-old oak trees carefully selected to resemble those she was built with around 1163.

Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent ourselves, any more than the steeple of Notre Dame, which was beautiful enough, and will be replicated.  But, a little tweaking here and there of our lifestyle would be a good thing!

How about rearranging and refreshing your priorities of life?  Maybe you have gained some insight into what really matters to you and your family through this whole ordeal.

Certainly, you must have taken notice of how mother nature rejoiced at our retreating from carelessly running amuck; dangerous imperiling mother earth, climate, plants, and animals, thanks to the restriction of travel and life as we knew it. 

If we keep going back to invading the boundaries of nature, we will once again invite new zoonotic diseases to ignite in humans, like more coronaviruses, Ebola, and Lassa fever.

Perhaps,  you no longer want to put off some goals you have been nursing along.  You witnessed on a global scale the fragility of human life and how quickly it can be destroyed.

We are the survivors, and although we all want back the normalcy of our lives pre Covid; we have a precious golden chance to reinvent what kind of normalcy we want that would be better not just for us but for all of mankind.

P.S.   One joy that I look forward to that hasn’t changed is making my Sunday pastry with love!  Here is my luscious Passion Fruit panna cotta cake for Easter!